by Scott Hammer
WAUSEON, OH – Saturday night’s UMP Late Model feature at Oakshade Raceway produced a first-time winner. Adrian, Michigan’s Carter Murday led the entire distance to claim his first late model feature win in only his third start since making the move to driving late models full-time this season.
Murday started on the pole and pulled away to a big lead at the start of the 25-lap UMP Late Model feature. Devin Shiels tried to reel him in from second position and was able to make up a little ground after the leaders starting working through lapped traffic.
The first of a series of caution periods would reset the field on lap 14, wiping out Murday’s advantage. A handful of ensuing cautions would keep the drivers from reestablishing any kind of rhythm until after the last cation on lap 17. Race officials finally decided to attempt the next restart single file instead of the usual Delaware double file restart.
Murday seemed unphased by all the cautions and again proceeded to pull away from Shiels and the rest of the field in the final laps on his way to a dominating win. Dusty Moore held off Rusty Schlenk to finish third. It was Moore’s third top five in a row which keeps in atop the point standings. Eric Spangler made the trip from Lake City, MI and finished fifth.
The UMP Sportsman feature event got off to a bit of a rocky start with multiple caution flags resulting in several complete restarts. Carter Schlenk had won the previous two UMP Sportsman feature events, but found himself having to overcome some adversity after getting caught up in a wreck that caused one of those caution flags. Schlenk went to the pits and made it back on to restart at the tail of the field.
Jake Gamber started on the pole and once things finally got going, him and Josh Robertson pulled away from the rest of the field. Another pile up on lap four would tighten the field back up with Gamber continuing to lead. Robertson made a move to the inside of Gamber and took the lead away on lap 11 of the 20-lap race. Robertson, from Defiance, Ohio, went on to pick up the checkered flag with Gamber settling for second. “The Outlaw” Jesse Jones finished third followed by Kolin Schilt and Mike Jessen. Schlenk fought back to an eighth-place finish, but lost the point lead to Josh Robertson.
John Lonabarger took the lead from Herbie Haynes on the second lap of the Dominator Super Stock A Main. Four laps later, Adam Lantz, out of Wauseon, Ohio, would take the point moving Lonabarger back to second. Lantz went on to pick up his first feature win of the season with Gabe Mueller finishing second and William “Bubba” Cundick ending up third. Lonabarger slipped back to fourth with Amy Clair finishing fifth.
Hillsdale, Michigan’s Cory Gumm started on the pole of the Compact A Main and led from flag to flag to earn his second Oakshade feature win of the season. A caution for Brandon Proffitt’s slowing car would wipe out a huge lead for Gumm, but Gumm was able to take the checkered flag over Brett Ireland, Brandon Paskan, James Stamper and Mike Siegel.
Bob Zuver led the first three laps of the Dominator Super Stock B Main until Dan Shaffer got by. Shaffer would go on to pick up the victory with Josh McNicol gaining 10 positions to finish second. Derek Zuver had gotten up to second position at one point, but settled for a third-place finish with Alex Krall and Jayden Bleikamp rounding out the rest of the top five finishers.
The Compact B Main, which was also the night’s final event, produced one of the most exciting finishes of the night. Josh Beaver and Jeff Wells battled for the lead early in the race, but Wells would fall out of competition on lap two after bringing out the caution flag. Then it was Todd Drewes Jr. trading the lead with the Toledo, Ohio, driver after the restart. Drewes would later fall off the pace and drop out of competition which set up a duel between Beaver and Gage Rushlow in the final laps. Rushlow had a good run to get alongside Beaver coming off the final corner, but Beaver was able to just edge out the 4 car of Rushlow for the win. Devin Goodman and Tiffany Hernandez finished third and fourth and were the only other cars running at the end of the race. Todd Drewes Jr. was credited with the fifth-place finish.
Another full racing program of UMP Late Models, UMP Sportsman, Dominator Super Stocks and Compacts highlights the racing action at Oakshade Raceway on Saturday, June 10. Gates open at 4pm with hot laps at 6pm and racing at 7pm. Adult general admission is just $14, ages 6-11 are $5 and kids 5 and under are FREE! Pit passes are $25.